Evolutionary Psychology

human-nature.com/ep – 2005. 3: 59-78

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Original Article

The Role of Dreams in the Evolution of the Human Mind

Michael S. Franklin, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 525 East University Ann
Arbor, MI, 48109, USA. Email: msfrankl@umich.edu. (Corresponding author)

Michael J. Zyphur, Tulane University, Department of Psychology, 2007 Percival Stern Hall, New
Orleans, LA 70118, USA. Email: mzyphur@tulane.edu.

Abstract: This paper presents an evolutionary argument for the role of dreams in the
development of human cognitive processes. While a theory by Revonsuo (2000)
proposes that dreams allow for threat rehearsal and therefore provide an evolutionary
advantage, the goal of this paper is to extend this argument by commenting on other
fitness-enhancing aspects of dreams. Rather than a simple threat rehearsal
mechanism, it is argued that dreams reflect a more general virtual rehearsal
mechanism that is likely to play an important role in the development of human
cognitive capacities. This paper draws on current work in cognitive neuroscience and
philosophy of mind in developing the argument.

Keywords: Dreams, sleep, REM sleep, evolution, philosophy of mind, cognitive

neuroscience.

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Introduction

Although Freud (1900) proposed that dreaming and, specifically, the

meaningful content of dreams are related to mental functioning, the tenuous and
misunderstood nature of dreams has made the proposition of empirically providing
support for, or falsifying, this claim very problematic. The inability to study the
effects of dreams on mental functioning has forced many researchers to view dreams
as the result of random neural activity (e.g., the activation-synthesis hypothesis;
Hobson and McCarley, 1977). If postulations regarding the random nature of dreams
are indeed true, then it becomes challenging to construct a theory of how the
phenomenology of the dream state could serve a functional role and be better
understood through an evolutionary analysis. However, recent research, to be
discussed in this paper, which takes into account the physiological mechanisms
underlying sleep and dreams, the content of dreams, and the environmental conditions
 The Role of Dreams in the Evolution of the Human Mind

of selection, points toward the natural selection of dreaming as a state of

consciousness which has persisted across the development of the human species.
This tends to suggest that the dream state was selected for as an adaptation which
increases overall fitness. The leading theory addressing the adaptive qualities of
dreaming uses the concept of virtual threat, defined as a dream-state wherein a
threatening situation is constructed virtually, and explains that through the rehearsal
of various threatening scenarios we may be better equipped to handle real-world
threats (Revonsuo, 2000). While this theory offers a plausible evolutionary account
of dreaming, the goal of the current paper is to extend the theoretical underpinnings
of this hypothesis by commenting on other fitness-enhancing aspects of dreams and
the broader influence of dreaming in the evolution of higher mental functioning.

The Subjective Nature of Dreams

The nature of the dream-state is highly subjective and a truly personal

experience making the scientific analysis of dreaming somewhat prohibitive. Dreams
often contain material that is nonsensical and challenging to interpret rationally,
making the characterization of dreams from an objective point of view a perplexing
task. While we all dream (though see Solms, 1997, for an example of
neuropsychological patients who do not dream), there is incredible variability in the
subjective dream experience (Hall and Van de Castle, 1966; Spadafora and Hunt,
1990). Some people rarely remember their dreams and erroneously conclude that
they do not dream at all (a condition discussed by Freud, 1900), while others
experience vivid dreams with rich visual imagery and emotional content. Sometimes,
the story-lines that make up people’s dreams follow a tight narrative and have a
relatively smooth transition from scene to scene, while at other times dreams appear
as illogical and haphazard associations lacking a coherent sense of flow. Some
people have full control of their dreams, exerting conscious control over the
supposedly random events which typify dreaming (Laberge, Levitan, Dement, 1986),
while others are mere bystanders watching the events unfold without any sense of
agency approximating waking volition. With the multiplicity of dream dynamics, it
is no surprise that there are differing views on the nature of dreams, as a researcher’s
views on dreaming may directly relate to their own subjective experience of dreaming
(Potter, 1996).
Despite this subjective nature of dreams, an evolutionary analysis of dreams
should not be disregarded and considered outside the realm of scientific inquiry
(although for a competing view see Thompson, 2000). Since the cognitive
revolution, psychology and other disciplines have made significant progress in
developing and implementing methodologies meant to reveal truths about the mental
processes underlying our subjective experiences (Miller, 2003). For example, the
tools of cognitive neuroscience have allowed neuroimaging data to inform our
theories of cognition (Kandell and Squire, 2000). It is not unreasonable to think that
these methods will one day allow for a correlation to be established between certain

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patterns of brain activity and corresponding dream content, not unlike how current
technology now allows accurate prediction of information from subjective
experiences.
As an example, neuroimaging evidence can provide information to distinguish
between lower-level sensory experiences (e.g., the experience of visual vs. auditory
stimuli) as well as higher-level perceptual experiences (e.g., visual processing of a
face stimulus vs. a house stimulus; O'Craven and Kanwisher, 2000). In this vein, it is
important to approach the study of dreams in a scientific fashion, not biased by our
own subjective dream experiences, but rather by letting our theories rest on
scientifically collected data. Towards this aim of objective and scrutinizing scientific
inquiry, below we present data concerning the function of dreaming.

REM Sleep and Dreaming

One of the first and most important findings in the history of research on
dreams and dreaming is that which relates the phenomenon of dreaming and the
physiological occurrence of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (Dement and
Kleitman, 1957). While dreaming refers to “the subjective conscious experiences that
we have during sleep” (Revonsuo, 2000, p.878), REM sleep is a physiologically-
defined stage of sleep. It has been established that dreaming does occur during REM
sleep through the collection of dream reports from subjects awoken from REM sleep,
though the same is true for non-REM sleep (NREM; Hobson, 1988). Rather than
being a static process, sleep contains a number of discrete states defined by various
physiological measures (Rechtschaffen and Kales, 1968).
The use of electroencephalography (EEG), electro-oculography (EOG), and
electromyography (EMG) has proven useful in distinguishing between arousal states
during sleep, by measuring brain activity, eye movements, and muscle activity,
respectively. As we sleep, our brain passes through various stages in a cyclical
manner. Some of these stages are characterized by slow brain activity and other
stages occur in which the electrical activity of the brain mimics the waking brain, and
can even be considered hyperactivated. This specific, hyperactive stage of sleep is
known as REM sleep and has three characteristics that define it: 1) The brain is more
active than while in other stages and the EEG consists of alpha and beta activity,
similar to waking, 2) Muscle activity is actively inhibited within the central nervous
system in order to promote paralysis, and 3) Eye-movements occur during REM sleep
because the muscle paralysis does not extend to the eye muscles.
A link between REM sleep and dreaming has been established through
various experimental studies (Hobson, 1988). First, it is known that people awakened
from REM sleep as opposed to NREM sleep are significantly more likely to produce
dream reports and these reports are likely to be more detailed and vivid than NREM
dream reports. Also, evidence implicating REM sleep with dreams appears when
REM sleep mechanisms malfunction. Normally during REM sleep, signals that elicit
all motor output (except for eye movements) are actively inhibited. Disorders that

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naturally occur in humans and lesions in other species that damage the inhibitory
response can result in physically acting out dreams while asleep (Sforza, Krieger,
Petiau, 1997). Further, humans can give a verbal report to substantiate the
correspondence of dream actions to waking actions (Ferini-Strambi and Zucconi,
2000).
Other species cannot provide information about mental processes during
sleep, so controversy surrounds the question of whether or not animals are dreaming
during REM sleep. One perspective is that animals such as cats, which display
threat-induced posturing and appear startled by invisible objects while in REM sleep,
have a reason to produce such behavior. The reason is linked to their perception of
information relevant to these displays without actual corresponding sensory
information. In fact, studies using electrophysiological measures to record activity in
hippocampal place cells indicate that rats which have spent a considerable amount of
time during the day running through a maze show activation of the same place cells
during REM sleep which were active during maze running (Louie and Wilson, 2001;
Wilson and McNaughton, 1994). These data point towards the possibility that
dreaming serves some type of rehearsal function, allowing animals to practice the
activities performed while awake, namely running through the maze.
However, we will never know if the subjective experience of dreaming is the
same for these animals as it is for humans, as we will also never truly know if another
person’s subjective dream experience is similar to our own. Just as behaviorists
concluded the human mind was a ‘black box’ incapable of scientific study (Watson,
1913), there is a tendency to assume that we will never be able to gain an
understanding of animals’ mental states and that any attempt is simply
anthropomorphism. However, the neurophysiological evidence mentioned above
makes plausible the claim that during REM sleep these animals are experiencing
something similar to what people call dreaming, with the caveat that the dream
experience will be specific to the perceptual and cognitive abilities of the animal.
While there is a strong correlation between REM sleep and dreaming, it is
also clear that dreaming can occur outside of REM sleep, and similarly, instances of
REM sleep without dreaming are also feasible (Hobson, 1988; Solms, 1997). An
analysis of dream content suggests that there are systematic differences between
REM and NREM dream reports (Hobson, Pace-Schott, Stickgold, 2000). This data
indicates that just as sleep is not a static unitary process, but rather made of discrete
stages, the cognitive processes that take place throughout the sleep cycle, and that are
normally uniformly called dreams, differ and can result in different classes of dreams
(Fosse, Stickgold, Hobson, 2004). Dreams that occur during NREM sleep lack vivid
imagery and, while they may contain themes similar to REM dreams, they often
consist of a simple recurring theme.
For the purpose of this paper we will concentrate on the types of dreams that
are normally reported when subjects are awakened from REM sleep. From this
perspective, it is possible to make a stronger inference that certain physiological
mechanisms of REM sleep influence dreaming. Specifically, activation can be

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examined in forebrain areas that are more likely to be informative for a cognitive
theory of dreaming, and are claimed to selectively influence dreaming without
affecting REM sleep (Solms, 2000). This is not to say that we are unconscious
outside of REM while sleeping and that NREM dreams are not also of potential
interest, rather, it is argued that the type of consciousness that mostly occurs during
REM sleep is of special interest and represents a prototypical dream. Since we
currently lack the technology to achieve a highly detailed understanding of the
physiological correlates of dreaming, a logical starting point is to use existing
technologies to acquire data during REM sleep, in order to see how they can inform a
theory of dreaming.

Theories of Dreaming

The theory of dreaming most generally accepted, which offers an explanation

of dreaming based on the physiology of REM sleep, is Hobson and McCarly’s (1977)
activation-synthesis hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, dreams are the result
of the forebrain responding to random activity initiated at the brainstem. This is
demonstrated by the PGO waves that occur during REM sleep. Specifically, PGO
refers to the pons, where the activity originates; the lateral geniculate nucleus of the
thalamus, which is the area through which sensory information passes; and occipital
areas, where visual information is processed. According to Hobson and McCarly
(1977), this random activity, or noise, emanating from the pons, passes through
similar sensory-relay stations as information from the environment, and is interpreted
in a way that leads to the phenomenology of dreaming. Overall, this theory has
received general support for some time because it fits well with physiological data
and its explanation of dreaming appeals to a majority of peoples’ dream experiences,
again, being somewhat haphazard and random. This theory posits that the bizarre
nature of dreams is attributed to certain parts of the brain attempting to piece together
a story out of what is essentially random information.
The activation-synthesis theory does make intuitive sense, based not only on
how we generally remember and report information from dreams, but also on how
difficult it is to piece together memories of a dream upon waking.
Neuropsychological evidence points towards our tendency to confabulate stories that
we believe to be true in order to fit together disparate pieces of information
(Gazzaniga, 1985). If true, however, the supposedly random information that leads to
dreaming would weaken the evolutionary analysis presented here. If there is no bias
towards a particular type of information processed during REM sleep, then it
becomes hard to imagine how dreaming could be selected for in an evolutionary
context. Specifically if there is no rhyme or reason with regards to the content that
makes up dreams, it becomes difficult to understand the advantage of experiencing
such a haphazardly concocted virtual dream environment.
A more detailed analysis of dream content and the relation between REM
sleep and dreaming, however, demonstrates that the activation-synthesis theory is

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incomplete (Domhoff, 2000b). Although dreams tend to be rather bizarre, they are
certainly not as disjointed as would be the case if this hypothesis were unilaterally
true. In fact, large samples of dream reports from numerous studies point toward the
fact that individuals see the majority of dreams as realistic and containing a connected
storyline (Foulkes, 1985; Snyder, 1970; Domhoff, 2000a). This is something which
should not occur if the information processed in dreams is truly random. Likewise, to
be discussed below, certain information is differentially represented in dreams (Hall
and Van de Castle, 1966).
Additional neuropsychological evidence reveals that the brainstem
mechanism, which is a key ingredient in activation-synthesis theory, is not necessary
for dreams to occur. Rather, work by Solms (1997, 2000) points towards the
forebrain region as being crucial in the generation of dreams. If there is reason to
believe that dreaming is not just the random processing of information, but instead
there is some pattern to the types of themes present in dreams and the possibility that
dreams can consist of cohesive story-lines, then it seems logical to investigate why
these patterns exists and what purpose they serve. Before delving into these details
on the functional aspects of dreaming, it is necessary to briefly describe more about
the phenomenology of dreaming and how this could be reflected in the brain.

Mental Rehearsal

It can be assumed that the brain is optimally designed for the processing of
“real- world” sensory information, so that we can react in appropriate manner when
confronted with environmental stimuli. Despite this fact, a large portion of mental
life consists not of the processing of actual information, but rather the rehearsal of
what to do when we encounter stimuli from the environment (Klinger, 1978). This
rehearsal and the cognitive skills involved are likely to have a strong adaptive value.
Present neuroimaging data suggests that this “non-real” information, or
information not tied to any current environmental stimuli, is treated in a similar
fashion as information processed in a real physical environment. Data from a
neuroimaging study, specifically using positron emission topography (PET), supports
the notion that when we imagine something of a visual nature and manipulate that
image, our visual cortex is activated (Kastner et al., 1999). Likewise, in studies that
control for actual movement, it has been shown that by simply imagining the actions
involved in a repetitive motor task, the physical representation of the associated
pattern of activity in the motor cortex increases (Pascual-Leone et al., 1995).
A question, then, is why would mental imagery of a physical activity activate
the same brain regions as the activity itself? This double-activation would make
sense if mental imagery reflects exercise/practice for the brain (or if imagining a thing
and “really” doing a thing are not as distinct as many assume they are). By being
able to practice a response, or exercise a part of the brain without having to physically
experience a behavior-eliciting stimulus (especially one that is potentially dangerous),
we can optimize mental functioning and, ultimately, our response to an actual

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situation (Cumming and Hall, 2003). It is well known that mental imagery
techniques greatly facilitate multiple aspects of performance from sports to music
(e.g., Feltz and Landers, 1983). Further, the most successful individuals at creative
endeavors are usually those that have the best imagery skills (Intons-Peterson, 1993).
Thus, it appears advantageous to be able to create vivid representations in the mind’s
eye of various scenarios, which in fact, is what dreaming entails.

Threat Rehearsal

When awoken abruptly from a terrifying nightmare, it is easy to understand

the strength dream imagery has in generating both physiological and cognitive
responses. In the case of a nightmare, heart rate is accelerated, sweating occurs, and a
general feeling of fear and anxiety can extend for some time after the dream has
finished (Mellman et al., 1985). Even though dreams are a form of mental
representation, in the sense that perception is not tied to stimuli in the environment,
they are generally experienced as real and the content is perceptually
indistinguishable from waking perception (Freud, 1900).
If merely imagining an event has the power to better prepare us for an actual
event by physically activating comparable brain regions, then it should follow that the
more realistic the simulation of events, the more the brain treats the information as
real. Also, if this capacity to simulate an environment allows us to be optimally
prepared to deal with challenges in a real environment, it should affect fitness and be
naturally selected for across generations (Darwin, 1995). The threat-simulation
hypothesis of dreaming argues that this is the purpose of dreams and the reason why
dreaming has evolved (Revonsuo, 2000). It is suggested by this theory that dreams
serve the purpose of allowing for the rehearsal of threatening scenarios in order to
better prepare an individual for real-life threats. This is supported by evidence from
dream reports to be discussed below.
An Evolutionary Perspective

In order to evaluate the threat simulation theory of dreaming (of the kind
found in REM sleep), it is useful to discuss it in an evolutionary context, and consider
whether dreaming meets the necessary requirements of evolution by natural selection;
namely, genetic variation, inheritance, and differential fitness. As for the first
condition, there is evidence that REM sleep is genetically varied between and within
species. REM sleep seems to be exclusive to placental and marsupial mammals
(Winson, 1993). This suggests a particular phylogeny of dreaming, and that there
was some point in time in which this characteristic was acquired and further spread to
evolving species. Also, the amount of REM sleep placental and marsupial animals
tend to require varies in a shared manner throughout their life cycle (Siegel, 1995),
pointing towards an underlying genetic control over dreaming.
Likewise, different physiological processes occurring during REM must have

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undergone processes of natural selection. Consider disorders in which people

physically act out their dreams, and the potential dire consequences that could result
from such disorders. Those who acted out their dreams may have put themselves at
great risk. As the trait of physical inhibition during dreaming varies in humans, those
individuals with the trait which inhibits paralysis during REM sleep seem to have
been predominately removed from the current dreaming population, indicating also
that the second condition of inheritance is satisfied.
When considering the third proposition of the differential fitness of dreaming
in modern humans, it is important to understand the environment in which selection
was occurring. Our human ancestors faced a number of challenges posed by
interactions with conspecifics within and between groups (Foley, 1989), as well as in
procuring food and protecting themselves from predators (Kaplan and Hill, 1985). In
this environment, the ability to most efficiently react when a real threat is apparent
would obviously confer a survival advantage. Evidence from mental imagery and
dream studies suggest that rehearsal in the dream is treated as a real threat and,
therefore, those individuals with these imagery skills to rehearse threatening scenarios
should have an improved ability to deal with threat, making them more likely to be
the progenitors of offspring. Through the survival and procreation of their offspring,
this ability of, and propensity towards, imagery would be differentially passed on to
future generations.
If dreaming was selected for because of its adaptive function, the general
content of dreams should certainly reflect this, and consist of situations that allow the
rehearsal of scenarios that ultimately lead toward increased fitness. This is exactly
what is seen, with studies indicating that dream content is biased toward negative
elements reflecting threat, as opposed to positive elements. Data collected from over
500 dream reports by Hall and Van de Castle (1966) indicate that about 80%
contained negative emotions, while only about 20% contained positive emotions.
These negative dreams are also disproportionably likely to contain threatening
elements such as animals and male strangers in threatening encounters. The evidence
points towards the overrepresentation of threatening events in dreams, which should
not occur if dream content is random. Through appropriating and learning to deal
with these threats in dreams, it is proposed here that an animal could increase its
overall evolutionary fitness.

Beyond Threat Simulation

While Revonsuo (2000) limits his argument to the effectiveness of dreams in

preparing for real-world threats, it is our goal now to extend this argument. We
propose that the fitness-enhancing benefits of dreaming is not restricted to threat
rehearsal, and the evolution of other higher-order cognitive faculties has been
strongly influenced by a dreaming mechanism. By commenting on other fitness-
enhancing aspects of the phenomenology of dreaming, besides threat, it also becomes
possible to integrate our theory with portions of Hobson and McCarley’s (1977)

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activation-synthesis hypothesis, with particular regards to their view on the random

information that leads to dreaming.
While dream content is not completely random, as demonstrated by the fact
that there tends to be an over-representation of negative affect (Hall and Van de
Castle, 1966; Merrit et al., 1994)) and social interactions (Kahn et al., 2002), there
still is a great deal of variability and randomness observed in dream content. We
argue that this variability is likely due to activation propagated from the brainstem,
and that this noise in the system is beneficial. The advantages of having noise as a
crucial factor in a dream-generation mechanism could be likened to the benefits of
genotypic variability in the evolution of species (cf., Darwin, 1995). Given an
unpredictable and variable environment, variability in traits increases the possibility
that a certain trait will randomly confer an advantage under certain circumstances,
this being the crux of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. In dreams, the potential
advantage of noise and variability in the system allows for a broad range of scenarios
to be simulated and new scenarios to be created rather than having the same type of
dream occur repeatedly. This concept relates to ideas discussed by Kahn, Combs,
and Krippner (2002), in terms of stochastic resonance which they contend prevents
mental activity from perseverating, which allows for novel situations to be developed
through the presence of noise in the system.
Aside from our theory being in a state of consonance with theories of both
activation-synthesis and threat-simulation, we also contend that increased fitness is
not limited to situations of threat rehearsal and that the information processing
occurring in dreams should be similarly represented in the brain as is waking
cognition. This is the case because if sleeping and waking cognition are quite
different, then rehearsing threatening situations in a dream may not transfer into the
ability to better handle similar situations in waking life. However, evidence from
lucid dream studies (described below) indicate that tasks such as counting and singing
during a dream, which should activate the left and right hemispheres, respectively, do
just that. When a person is singing in a dream, their right hemisphere is more active,
and conversely when a person counts, the left hemisphere becomes more activated
(LaBerge and Dement, 1982). A more recent PET study demonstrated that subjects
trained on a serial reaction time task showed task-related increases in brain activity
during REM sleep which was correlated with improved performance on the task after
sleep (Maquet et al., 2000).
Also, from a neuropsychological perspective, evidence comparing bizarre
dream cognition with certain psychopathology indicates another link between brain
activity in dreams and waking. For example, people who suffer from damage to
frontal and temporal brain areas typically report the misidentification of faces during
waking life, a condition known as Fregoli syndrome. Some research has indicated
that a decrease of activity in these regions, reported from neuroimaging studies in
sleep, correspond to similar reports of misidentification during dreaming (Schwartz
and Maquet, 2002). So, the functional architecture of our brains similarly influences
both sleep and waking cognition and perception, supporting the idea that

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neurophysiological correlates of cognition appear stable across the two forms of

consciousness.

Situated Cognition in Dreams

While the above argument points towards the similarity between thoughts
while dreaming and in waking life, clearly there is a difference in how the two states
are experienced and the type of cognition occurring in each. As discussed earlier, for
the majority of time spent dreaming, we accept as real even the most bizarre
scenarios, and are able to make rationalizations allowing us to treat the dream as real.
Generally speaking, we are fooled into accepting a dream experience as a real
experience, until we awake and reflect on the content of the dream. This indicates a
general deficit in certain aspects of executive functioning (e.g., deficits in planning,
monitoring, attention switching, etc.), including skills relating to critical-thinking and
our ability to access specific types of memories.
While dreaming, an effect of the general deficit in executive functioning is
that our cognitive machinery becomes fully engrossed in perceptions and goal-states
directly relevant to perceptions of the dream. This has a considerable resemblance to
the idea of situated cognition, in which cognition is tied to the moment and restricted
to satisfying goals pertaining to current concerns (also, perceptual narrowing has been
shown in alternate contexts within the rubric of the threat-rigidity effect, proposed by
Staw, Sandelands, and Dutton, 1981). It can be argued that all non-human cognition
is situated, and that it is the ability to extend thinking beyond the here-and-now of
perception and motivation that makes human cognition unique (Bogdan, 1997). It
has even been hypothesized that what humans currently experience during REM sleep
shares a similarity to waking consciousness in early hominid brain evolution
(Panksepp, 1998). Jaynes (1976) takes this idea even further by arguing that there
was a time, roughly 3000 years ago, when humans lacked consciousness and acted in
a way that parallels the situated nature of dream consciousness.
This situated aspect of dreaming also makes sense from an evolutionary
perspective and further supports aspects of the threat-simulation theory. While it is
advantageous to rehearse situations that are subjectively deemed as threatening, it is
equally disadvantageous to come across a threatening scenario in real life and invest
the time required to wonder whether or not that situation is real. Therefore, in order
for this dream mechanism to be selected for, an important aspect of its initial
selection is that the perceived threats encountered during a dream must be
experienced as a real. This means that certain higher-order mental processes, which
would function to appraise the situation in an intellectual fashion (mostly frontal
areas), would likely have to be deactivated, which research indicates is the case
(Mazur, Pace-Schott, Hobson, 2002).
In most dreams there are deficits in the ability to solve complex problems.
Evidence from fMRI studies during REM sleep, show that there is a decrease in
activity of the prefrontal cortex, which would normally be associated with a decrease

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in executive functioning (Mazur et al., 2002). Specifically, it has been found that
there is a decrease in activity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during REM sleep.
This cortical region of the brain is crucial for tasks that require us to switch from our
current line of thinking and inhibit a task once initiated. The deactivation of this
region during a dream-state makes intuitive sense, in that for most dreams even very
bizarre scenarios are normally accepted without question and we generally just go
with the flow of the dream. We can visit with people who have passed away or
interact with those whom we have not seen in years and yet this normally does not
stop the dream from continuing or cause us to come to the conclusion that we are
dreaming.

Social Cognition in Dreams

While the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex appears to be inhibited during REM,

there is not a uniform deactivation of the frontal regions in the brain during states of
dreaming. For example, there is a consistent increase in activity of the anterior
cingulate in REM sleep (Braun et al., 1997). The anterior cingulate is a medial
frontal region implicated in such functions as decision-making, conflict resolution,
social cognition, and social judgment tasks which probe a subject’s theory of mind
(TOM) and requires subjects to take into account the intentions and mental states of
others (Devinsky, Morrell, Vogt, 1995). In fact, recent studies link activation of the
anterior cingulate with capacities of a TOM module (Vogeley et al., 2001). These
data suggest that aspects of cognition centering on the processing of social
information are strongly activated during REM sleep.
This is particularly interesting since it is thought that our complex social
interactions and the information processed in the social domain played an integral
role in the development of primate’s mental capacities (Whiten and Byrne, 1988). If
these pathways are active during REM sleep and this type of information is being
rehearsed, then it should function to effectively strengthen the effects that processing
of social information has on mental development. Further supporting this role is the
tendency for a large proportion of dreams to contain other people and represent
various social situations (Kahn et al., 2002).
Another example of a skill that has arguably played a pivotal role in other
functional aspects of the human intellect and could serve to be shaped by dreaming is
that of interpretation. As discussed by Bogdan (1997, p.108), “…key advances in
interpretation, such as the recognition of belief, were accelerated by increased
opportunities to interact with or manipulate subjects and slowed down by a lack of
such opportunities.” As such, via teasing, play, mental rehearsal/imagery, or
dreaming, the individual is given the opportunity to utilize successful strategies in
dealing with these situations and further develop interpretive skills. In fact, studies of
children’s dream-reports indicate that their dreams more often contain family
members and close friends than adults’ dreams (Hobson, 1988), possibly due to the
fact that it is more important for younger children to be practicing close interpersonal

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skills than it is for adults.

It, however, could be argued that the rehearsal of social situations would not
play a significant role in increasing one’s fitness. In order to address this claim, it is
necessary to comment on the potential benefits of being socially sophisticated. First,
in terms of pure survival value, those individuals who best interact with those around
them, i.e., those who interact without interpersonal conflict and confrontation, will
likely have better access to resources in their social group, be it mates or food (Foley,
1989). There is wide variation between cultures in the types of traits that render an
individual fit, and what makes humans a successful species is that our ability to deal
with the social environment that we are thrust into is not completely pre-wired (Sapir,
1921; Whorf, 1956). Those individuals that could use feedback from the
environment to effectively modify their social interactions would be best off, as
individual groups often have particular social nuances. Also, clearly in our own
species, the traits we have which help us deal with social situations vary greatly and
under certain circumstances can be beneficial, while at other times potentially put us
at risk. Due to the variable fitness of particular behaviors at particular times, we need
to be adept at interpreting cultural standards when interacting with others. For
example, one cultures “alpha male” could potentially be ostracized in another culture.
This newly ostracized individual would be less likely to obtain mates, and would be
less competitive for the resources that would influence his survival. Therefore,
something that could tip the scale in allowing someone to best deal with important
social interactions would likely be selected for over time.
Flanagan (2000) raises the potential criticism that dreams do not give us an
accurate representation of ourselves and conspecifics, positing that there is no
advantage conferred in dreams by rehearsing various social interactions. He claims
that the development of a TOM module based on dreamed social interactions would
be flawed, and that accurate depictions of others and ourselves is the exception rather
than the rule while dreaming. While we do not disagree that in dreams ourselves and
others often act in a surprising and atypical manner, overall our representation of
those we know is quite impressive and accurate. From their visual appearance, to the
tone of voice, to the style of speaking, by virtue of the fact that we recognize and
interact with those we know in the dream-world, we have an amazing ability to
unconsciously recreate dream characters from those people with which we typically
interact (above and beyond any verbal description that we could give of that person).
While we surely cannot say a dream character’s behavior is how that person would
act in ‘real life,’ we also know that there is no way to accurately predict how that
person will behave when encountering a new situation in real life. In waking life, the
best that we can do is interpret overt cues and then attempt to understand a person’s
intentions and predict their actions, for which dreams offer such a venue.

Dream Ontogeny

While the social aspects of dreaming offer insight into the socio-

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 The Role of Dreams in the Evolution of the Human Mind

developmental benefits of dreams, so does an examination of the ontogeny of sleep

and dreaming. Multiple facets of our mental development are ontogenetically
scheduled (Bertenthal, 1996). For example, at about nine months of age it is apparent
that infants acquire the new skill of treating others as intentional beings (Trevarthen,
1979). Other mental capacities also begin to develop within a predictable timeline, a
universal characteristic of the human species and occurring independent of culture.
Likewise, the architecture of sleep cycles follows a specific ontogeny that is
consistent to humans as a species (Frank and Heller, 2003).
REM sleep occurs most frequently in newborns, and decreases throughout the
lifespan. Newborns can spend about eight hours a day in REM sleep, and REM sleep
actually occurs at sleep onset (Winson, 2002). In contrast, as we age, sleep onset is
characterized by stages of NREM sleep, followed by REM sleep in less amounts. By
the age of three, REM sleep is reduced to about three hours a day and continues to
decline throughout the lifespan.
Why is REM sleep such a prominent brain state in the developing brain? One
answer to this question follows from the previous argument as to the potential
function of dreams, i.e., a virtual rehearsal mechanism. It is well known that
children, and even other species, suffer detrimental effects when raised in
impoverished environments (Joseph, 1999). The converse is also true. Infants raised
in environments with rich amounts of information show increased cognitive skills at
an earlier age, and this can even extend throughout the lifespan (Diamond, 1988); an
enriched environment during the development of the nervous system optimizes its
functionality.
As mentioned above, all evidence points toward the notion that virtual
environmental stimuli are treated in essentially the same way as real stimuli from the
environment. Therefore, it would make adaptive sense for an organism that is young
and still developing to experience the most rich and vivid environment possible. If
this is experienced in infant dreams, then this is exactly what has been selected for, as
newborns spend a good deal of time in this virtual environment.
Of course, the virtual environment will likely be a reflection of the real
environment and how infants interact with their virtual environment is going to be a
function of the perceptual and cognitive capacities they have developed. So, the
REM mentation of infants, which we are arguing constitutes a type of dreaming,
probably consists of recreations with important sensory information that is taken in
while awake. It is this information, and these interactions with the physical and
social world, which is likely vital in shaping the future mental development of the
child.
The brain connections that are thought to be developed during REM sleep are
not going to be haphazardly put into place and subsequently strengthened, rather,
through dreaming, these connections may be optimized based on experience. If
mental rehearsal can induce change and lead to the reorganization of the brain in
relatively short periods of time (Pascual-Leone et al., 1995), surely the cumulative
time spent dreaming will impact brain development as well. While this argument

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 The Role of Dreams in the Evolution of the Human Mind

may seem contradictory to data indicating that dreaming is a gradual cognitive

process that does not take place regularly until around ages 5-9 (Foulkes, 1999), the
dream experience is bound to be tightly coupled with the development of general
mental abilities including perception, language, and memory. Further, the lack of
verbal dream reports should not exclude, a priori, the possibility that a form of a
dreaming is taking place.
Hypotheses can be generated based on the notion that infants have a type of
dreaming mechanism, and this dreaming mechanism influences the development of
certain cognitive abilities. Specifically, we predict that an optimal environment that
has a good deal of complexity will interact with a healthy sleep schedule to cause an
optimal development of intellectual capacities. Conversely, a disruption in the
normal REM cycle of a developing individual could have negative consequences on
the development of mental functions. An example of a disorder where this
hypothesis could be investigated is autism. Autism has been likened to a TOM deficit
and is associated with disrupted sleep patterns (Richdale and Prior, 1995). Based on
the theory developed in this paper, it is predicted that a portion of the deficits
observed in autistics is due to their lack of REM sleep. We theorize that through an
inability to dream, the autistic brain is negatively affected and through this negative
effect, so are subsequent behaviors, such as interactions with the world around them.

An Important Exception

Thus far, we have been careful to use qualifiers such as “generally” and “a
majority of the time”, when referring to the situated nature of dream cognition
because it is possible to have waking-like cognition operate while dreaming (Laberge
et al., 1981). This phenomenon is known as lucid dreaming and occurs when the
dreamer realizes, within the dream, that they are dreaming and that their actual body
is asleep in bed. With this knowledge in mind, the dream continues and the dreamer
is able to manipulate and interact within the dream world from a waking frame of
consciousness. Research has shown that people are able to reach this state in a sleep
laboratory and are able to indicate their lucidity to the waking world by giving
distinct eye signals that are recorded by EOG (LaBerge et al., 1986). Upon waking, a
dream report is given in which the subject describes how many eye movements they
made and the duration between these eye movements. These reports are shown to
match up with observed physiological data (Laberge et al., 1981).
This is a capacity that we contend has to be unique to humans, and represents
a level of awareness that is often not attained in the waking state (although see Hegel
for talk of a similar type of waking “self-consciousness”; Hegel, 1979). While lucid
dreaming occurs rarely for people in the general population, it is a skill that can be
learned through various techniques (Laberge, 1980). These techniques generally
have the person become more aware of their state of consciousness and question their
reality throughout the day. By forcing the person to step outside the flow of their
current perceptions and motivations during waking life, there is an increased chance

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 The Role of Dreams in the Evolution of the Human Mind

that this will occur during dreaming and facilitate a lucid dream. This allows a kind
of feedback between the dreaming and waking state to be reached where a more
unsituated approach to waking life affects the level of situatedness in the dream and
vice versa. Thus, a by-product of the dreaming virtual-rehearsal mechanism may be
the ability to obtain a higher level of awareness of one’s place in regards to one’s
surroundings.
Since higher mental operations can occur during dreams, this is surely bound
to interact and feed into waking cognitive abilities, and while it might not confer an
obvious benefit to fitness, dreams are a venue that have been used in a number of
cultures to attain higher states of consciousness (e.g., Tibetan dream yoga, and the
practices of the Senoi) and increase one’s sense of well-being (Wangyal, Rinpoche,
and Dahlby, 1998). Since no neuroimaging work has been done with lucid dreaming
one can only speculate, but it is possible that people who are frequent lucid dreamers
would show a different functional pattern of activation while in REM sleep, with
greater activation of frontal regions. This potential difference in activation for lucid
dreamers demonstrates the importance of taking into account subjective dream
reports when interpreting data on the physiology of sleep in general, and REM sleep
in particular.

Conclusion

When you consider the plasticity of the brain — with as little as 10-20
minutes of motor practice a day on a specific task the motor cortex reshapes itself in a
matter of a few weeks (Karni et al., 1998) — the time spent in our dreams would
surely shape how our brains develop, and influence our future behavioral
predispositions. The experiences that we accrue from dreaming across our life span
are sure to influence how we interact with the world and are bound to influence our
overall fitness, not only as individuals, but as a species. However, this argument does
have flaws.
One challenge to our hypothesis that deserves mentioning is the fact that we
do not always remember our dreams (Freud, 1900). There is a tendency to think that
what we cannot consciously recall does not influence us, but this is surely not the
case. Consider the mere exposure effect, where preference decisions are biased by
prior exposure to a stimulus, especially if that stimulus is unconsciously perceived
(Bornstein and D'Agostino, 1992). These experiments demonstrate that the decisions
we make are often based on information that we cannot consciously access.
Likewise, it is common to wake up without being able to remember any dreams at all
and, later in the day, encounter some cue in the environment that triggers memories
of a dream. This should serve as evidence that we cannot always trust our conscious
minds to accurately inform us of the contents of the mind and that our actions may be
heavily based on information to which we do not always have access.
While it has been proposed that dreaming is a by-product of the way in which
the architecture of sleep was designed (Flanagan, 2000), the evidence presented here

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 The Role of Dreams in the Evolution of the Human Mind

suggests that there are clear cognitive and behavioral ramifications due to the fact that
while asleep our mind not only continues working, but acts in such a way that we are
necessarily thrust into various virtual scenarios. The processing of dream content,
which consists of variations in scenarios encountered during daily life in which we
interact with the physical and social world, is bound to influence our cognitive
capacities and subsequent appraisal of real-world content. As greater technological
advances occur in the field of cognitive neuroscience we should be able to directly
test some of the fundamental hypotheses generated in this paper. Specifically, we
should be able to gather information pertaining to the development of the dreaming
mind in humans and others species, as well as information regarding the potential
benefits gained by dreaming and the costs incurred in its absence. While only
through the empirical validation of the theory proposed in this paper may we be able
to better understand the role of dreaming as an evolutionary adaptation, the current
work is a start along this road.

Acknowledgements: We wish to thank Stanley Krippner, Peter Clark, and two

anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on previous drafts.

Received 2 October, 2004, Revision received 14 February, 2005, Accepted 17

February, 2005.

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